Guest Post by Gloria Feldt: Not Under the Bus

“If we’re going to be thrown under the bus, let’s not be ladylike about it. Kick and scream and make your voice heard.”
:Linda Lowen, About.com/womensissues

I couldn’t agree more with Linda. That’s why I’ve dropped everything else and am working with the Women’s Media Center to raise awareness about what is at stake with the current health care bill over at NotUnderTheBus.com.

We just released a new video to increase the sense of urgency about women’s rights in the health care bill. The fight isn’t over yet, and the next week of conference committee deliberations between the House and Senate will be crucial. We need to be calling Congress and making sure that our rights are not thrown under the bus in the debate on health care, and we need our blogosphere to be heard loud and clear by the media and Congress. One thing for sure, anti-choice forces won’t stop just because it’s Christmas, and neither can we.

View the video here:

If you have a blog, please consider posting it there too. And all tweets and Facebook postings would help so much to keep the activism going during this holiday season when there are so many competing activities. Here’s more about the campaign overall: NotUnderTheBus.com is a comprehensive landing place for anyone looking to know the latest news in the health care debate.

We will continue to update you on the latest from NotUnderTheBus.com so you can share with your friends. And please feel free to post comments on our wall any time, and e-mail to me links to any posts or campaigns you’d like to see featured.

Please join our fan page at Facebook.com/NotUndertheBus and invite your friends. We’re on Twitter @NotUnderTheBus. The hashtag we’ve been promoting is #underthebus. Hope to tweet with you there early and often.

While the short term goal is to keep abortion restrictions out of health care reform, NotUndertheBus.com is a long term project that will be working to move the conversation about health care back to the original problem â€“ the Hyde Amendment, and to change the media narrative to one that centers on women’s human rights.

We don’t have the funds of those opposed to health reform entirely and women’s reproductive rights specifically. But we have the power of word of mouth. By spreading the message virally through our blogs and social media, we can continue building the opposition to these draconian policies. And what could possibly be a better gift to women, including ourselves, during this holiday season?

3 Responses to Guest Post by Gloria Feldt: Not Under the Bus

This is crucial, and Linda Lowen is exactly right that the opposition needs to be loud and forceful and unconcerned with politesse. It is noteworthy, though entirely unsurprising, that (at least so far as I’ve noticed) every one of the so-called-liberal dudes attacking progressive critics of this bill, and pooh-poohing the idea that the anti-reproductive freedom provisions should be a deal-killer, is, well, a dude. And it’s equally no surprise that the worst venom is reserved for Jane Hamsher. I can’t stomach reading glib wankers like Ezra Klein, Nate Silver, and their ilk anymore, so I’m not sure if they’ve actually used the word “shrill”; but I’d bet a shiny new dime that they have.